Passage 1
ब्रह्मणो मानसाज्जाता वयं कन्याः सुलोचनाः। षट्त्रिंशत्कोटिगुणिता असंख्याताः सहस्रशः॥१॥
“We are beautiful-eyed maidens born from Brahmā’s mind. Multiplied into thirty-six crores, we are innumerable by the thousands.
Passage 2
अस्माकं रूपलावण्यश्रिया श्रीरपि निर्जिता। श्यामाः पूर्णेन्दुवदना विधिदृष्टा वरोचिताः॥२॥
“By the splendor of our beauty and loveliness even Śrī was surpassed. Dark in complexion and full-moon-faced, we were judged by the Creator to be ready for bridegrooms.” Brahmā said:
Passage 3
प्रत्युवाच जगत्सर्वं वरार्थं रूपयन्निदम्। अहो यूयं देवकन्याः श्यामाः कुवलयेक्षणाः॥३॥
Presenting the entire world before them as the field in which to choose a husband, Brahmā replied, “Ah, you divine maidens, dark-hued and blue-water-lily eyed!
Passage 4
वरार्थं पश्यततरां जगत्स्थावरजङ्गमम्। स्वयं संप्रोच्य बहुशः सरस्वत्याप्यचीकथत्॥४॥
“Look very carefully through the world of moving and unmoving beings for a bridegroom.” He personally told them this many times and also caused Sarasvatī to tell them. The creepers continued:
Passage 5
ततो वयं सावमर्षमुक्तवत्यः सरस्वतीम्। अलं देवि मृषाभूतजगत्संग्रहणेन नः॥५॥
“Then we spoke disdainfully to Sarasvatī: ‘Enough, goddess, of collecting this unreal world for us.
Passage 6
तथापीदं जगत्सर्वं तुच्छमेव विमर्शितम्। फल्गु चान्ते च विरसं भूयो दुर्गतिदायकम्॥६॥
“‘Upon examination this entire world is indeed trivial—worthless, tasteless in the end, and productive only of further misfortune.
Passage 7
तमेव देवं जगतां निदानं भजामहे राम इति प्रसिद्धम्। स्थिता अमी यस्य वशे सुरौघा इन्द्रादयो ब्रह्मणा चापि सार्धम्॥७॥
“‘We worship only that God who is the source of the worlds and is renowned as Rāma. These hosts of gods, beginning with Indra and including Brahmā, remain under his command.’
Passage 8
इति श्रुत्वा विरञ्चिस्तु चुक्रोध रजसोभवः। शप्तवान् नः स्वरचनानादरात् कुपिताशयः॥८॥
“Hearing this, Viriñci, who was born of rajas, became angry. His heart incensed because we had disrespected his own creation, he cursed us:
Passage 9
स्थावरत्वं व्रजत हे मुग्धाः संकोचिताशयाः। अवहेलितगीर्वाणाः स्वधियैव कृतार्थवत्॥९॥
“‘Go into the condition of immobile beings, you foolish women of constricted understanding! You have slighted the gods as though your own judgment had already made you fulfilled.’
Passage 10
तेन शापेन सुभग लताभावं समाश्रिताः। रसालवनमध्यस्था दिवसानतिवाहिताः॥१०॥
“Through that curse, O handsome one, we entered the condition of creepers. Dwelling in the middle of the mango grove, we passed our days.
Passage 11
ब्रह्मकल्पं समारभ्य यावदद्य वयं स्थिताः। प्राप्ते सारस्वते कल्पे मुक्तशापा इहाधुना॥११॥
“We remained from the beginning of Brahmā’s kalpa until today. Now that the Sārasvata kalpa has arrived, we have been freed from the curse here.
Passage 12
तव श्रीचरणाम्भोजरजसा तीर्णदुष्कृताः। लतारूपं परित्यज्य वयं जाता यथास्थिताः॥१२॥
“By the dust of your blessed lotus feet we have crossed beyond our wrongdoing. Abandoning our forms as vines, we have become as we originally were.
Passage 13
रामदर्शनावधिक उक्तः शापो विरञ्चिना। तस्मात्त्वं राम एवासीः पूर्णः पुरुषपुङ्गवः॥१३॥
“Viriñci declared that the curse would last only until we saw Rāma. Therefore you are indeed Rāma himself, the complete and foremost Person.
Passage 14
त्वं भर्ता नः प्रभो पूर्वमस्माभिः परिरम्भितः। रमयिष्यसि रासेन्दो एतस्मिन्निर्जने वने॥१४॥
“You are our husband, Lord, embraced by us before. O moon of rāsa, you will delight us here in this secluded forest.
Passage 15
अमी हि तरवः पूर्वमस्माभिः परिरम्भिताः। तेनैव परकीयात्वमस्मासु रसिकोत्तम॥१५॥
“We formerly embraced these trees. For that very reason, supreme connoisseur of rasa, the condition of belonging to another applies to us in relation to you.
Passage 16
यो रसो रसशास्त्रेषु पूर्वाचार्यैर्निरूपितः। परकीया एव तस्य श्रुतास्तत् सावलम्बनम्॥१६॥
“The rasa described by the ancient teachers in the treatises on rasa is said to take women belonging to another as its supporting basis.
Passage 17
त्वं कान्तस्तरुणः शूरो वेषवान् बहुधार्मिकः। महोदारो महामानी सर्वासामुचितः प्रियः॥१७॥
“You are a youthful and heroic beloved, beautifully attired and deeply righteous, exceedingly generous and noble-minded—the lover suited to every one of us.
Passage 18
यथा निरूपितो धात्रा तत्तथैवावलोकितः। नृणां कल्याणदः शश्वद् दृशां भाग्येन नः प्रभो॥१८॥
“Lord, we see you exactly as the Creator described you: the eternal giver of well-being to humankind, now beheld through the good fortune of our eyes.
Passage 19
एतावज्जन्मसाफल्यं यत् त्वदाननदर्शनम्। प्रहसनसंस्पर्शभोगाद्यैः किमु वाच्यो महोत्सवः॥१९॥
“The mere sight of your face is enough to make a birth fruitful. What words could describe the great festival of smiling together, touch, enjoyment, and all that follows?
Passage 20
अहो प्रिय त्वां समवाप्य सुन्दरं वराभिलाषस्य गतेव चर्चा। नहि त्रिलोक्यां सुषमालवस्तव नखप्रभानिर्जितकोटिभास्वतः॥२०॥
“Ah, beloved! Having obtained you in all your beauty, the very question of desiring a bridegroom is finished. In the three worlds there is not even a fraction of loveliness like yours, for the radiance of your nails defeats ten million suns.
Passage 21
अहो धन्या वयं कान्त यासां कान्तस्त्वमीदृशः। अपूर्वरूपलावण्यशृङ्गारैकसुरद्रुमः॥२१॥
“Ah, beloved, blessed are we whose beloved is one such as you—the one heavenly wish-fulfilling tree of unprecedented form, loveliness, and amorous beauty.
Passage 22
निर्मञ्छनत्वमुपयान्ति ननु त्वयीश पारे परार्धमपि सुन्दर पञ्चवाणाः। नीराजना भवति ते वदनारविन्दे राकासुधाकरसहस्रकदम्बकस्य॥२२॥
“Lord, handsome one, Kāmas numbering beyond even a parārdha become mere offerings waved before you to ward away evil, while a cluster of a thousand full moons becomes the ārati light before your lotus face.
Passage 23
नखात् समारभ्य शिखावधीदं शृङ्गारसारं भवतः शुभाङ्गे। धैर्याणि नो लुण्ठति रामचन्द्र स्वभावसौन्दर्यसमूहजुष्टम्॥२३॥
“Rāmacandra, from your nails to the crown of your head, your lovely body is the very essence of amorous beauty, endowed with a mass of natural loveliness; it plunders our fortitude.
Passage 24
रघुवरमभिरामं प्राप्य कान्तं भवन्तं कलयति यदि लक्ष्मीः स्वस्वरूपं कृतार्थम्। तदितरललनानां संसृतौ कास्तु वार्ता बहुतरजनुषां चेदर्जितं नास्ति पुण्यम्॥२४॥
“If Lakṣmī, having obtained you—the delightful chief of the Raghus—as her beloved considers her very form fulfilled, what can be said of other women in saṃsāra unless they have accumulated merit through very many births?
Passage 25
अन्या अपि शचीमुख्याः स्त्रियो या या भवद्गुणान्। अश्रुत्वैव महेन्द्रादीन् वृतवत्यः शुभेतरान्॥२५॥
“Other women, beginning with Śacī, chose Indra and the other inferior ones only because they had never heard of your virtues.
Passage 26
भवान् हि सर्वकल्याणराशिरेको जगत्त्रये। पूर्णः पुराणः पुरुषस्त्रयीगुह्यस्त्रयीमयः॥२६॥
“You alone are the treasury of every blessing in the three worlds—the complete and primeval Person, the secret of the three Vedas and the very embodiment of the Vedas.
Passage 27
येऽपि त्वां सनकाद्यास्ते प्रापुः शरणदं सताम्। तेनाल्पभाग्यनिलया गण्यन्ते भुवनत्रये॥२७॥
“Even Sanaka and the others attained you only as the giver of refuge to the good. Therefore they are counted throughout the three worlds as abodes of scant good fortune.”
Passage 28
इत्याभाष्य ब्रह्मणस्ता मानस्यः शुभकन्यकाः। तूष्णीं बभूवुः सहसा वर्णयन्त्यः प्रियाननम्॥२८॥
Having spoken in this way, those auspicious maidens born from Brahmā’s mind, who had been describing their beloved’s face, suddenly fell silent. Thus ends Chapter Eighty-three, called “The account of the creepers’ liberation,” in the dialogue of Brahmā and Bhuśuṇḍi in the glorious Ādi Rāmāyaṇa. Source note This chapter is transcribed directly from printed pages 351–353 of the 1975 Pūrva-khaṇḍa witness (source leaves 482–484). The archival pages are authoritative; OCR was used only as a locating aid. Brahmā’s speaker label is printed between the two halves of verse 3; the creepers resume their narration after his quoted instruction in verse 4. The edition’s separated sthita amī in verse 7, rāmadarśanāvadhika uktaḥ in verse 13, compact śrutās tat sāvalambanam in verse 16, and the difficult ritual hyperbole of verse 22 are preserved rather than silently regularized. Verse 22 also carries witness variants and an editor’s note about a repeated alternative half-verse. Verse 27 deliberately ranks even Sanaka and the other sages below the maidens’ own mode of attainment; the English retains that striking comparison.